sDay 1 - Saturday and Sunday May 30-31st - Almost two days of travel from Houston to Pamplona.

The flight from IAH to Charlotte was also so smooth running, we talked about the excitement of the upcoming trip. Once at the airport we had a delay, we sit around a bar and Gabby buys me a beer, later on we cant believe how much a couple of beers cost at the airport. We talk soccer and her days at Mt. Carmel Catholic because we are watching the Women's World Cup. We also talk to a couple of guys who are headed to Barcelona. The waiter keeps bugging us to pay because we have moved to talk to other people. I become tipsy after half a beer and I get the feeling I am talking to much with the people around me so I conscientiously tell myself not watch my words.

​Gabby and I are pretty relaxed on the flight to Madrid, We both get a little sleep. Once at the airport in Madrid we get information to get to Pamplona, as we are waiting at the airport we can see many other pilgrims and their backpacks and walking sticks which will take us to Pamplona. We had a change of bus in Sorria, unfortunately very fast and all we can do is buy a quick sandwich before the bus leaves. While we are waiting for the bus to Pamplona Gabby met a girl named Shelvi who is a college graduate. They hit it off right away and I feel like the third wheel. Shelvi latched on to the two of us for security, although she has very good Spanish. We leave Madrid at 3:15 and arrive in Pamplona at about 6 pm.

We ask for directions at the bus station in Pamplona for the albergue Municipal Jesus y Maria, but every few blocks we have to ask for directions again. The directions are always the same , " at the corner take a right or sometimes left. But that turn straight always turns out to have a fork right or left and we have to ask for directions again. One thing that is for sure, that every time we ask for direction people are very helpful and at times give us too much information. We finally reach the albergue but it is now "completo". So we ring the bell a couple of times and finally someone comes out, they give us the name of another albergue and the three us us go look for it along with an Italian women who is also looking for a place for the night, we head out to we are assured is a place with at least 4 beds left.

Gabby and I must find a place to leave much of our stuff, as we are taking the bus in the morning to Saint Jean Pied de Port and because we are walking from SJPP to Roncesvalles before we pick up our bikes.

Again, we ask for directions several times and some 15 minutes later and a few times around the block we find the place, we walk in and it is a very modern looking place, which opened up recently. We explain to them that we would like to spend the night but that it is not the first night of our pilgrimage and it is very important to have our passport stamped in the right place. Since the stamp that belongs in the first place will be SJPP.The host understands and he suggest not getting a stamp at all, but to have it stamped in Pamplona on our passage. After very helpful info we have to pay 15 Euros each, which is twice the amount that we would have paid at Jesus y Maria. But this happened to us because we arrived so late into Pamplona. After settling into our beds, we head out to get some Gyros wraps a few blocks away. I have the same food I had the previous year with Jessica. Gabby has an open Gyros with vegetables. Now about 9 pm we head back to the albergue on Calle del Carmen. We take late showers and quietly go to bed. Gabby ends up washing her clothes and hangs them up to dry, but the sun is gone by now and the clothes are still wet in the morning.